A Brief History of Simon and Hillary
by Princess Rosamunde
Summary: Slightly AU Name. Simon Potter wants Hillary Wood. Hillary wants nothing to do with him. Fast-forward a few years. Hillary's Head Girl; Simon's Head Boy. Hillary is dating Hunter Goldstein but she's shagging Simon on the side. Everyone's satisfied with this arrangement (except Hunter, who doesn't know!) until Simon decides he doesn't just want Hillary's body, he wants all of her.


AN: Hello! Probably nothing makes sense to you right now. You saw this was a story about James Sirius Potter but the summary says Simon Potter. Essentially, this is what I have decided to call the "Slightly AU Name Universe". In essence, only two things have changed. James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna have been renamed Simon James, Caleb Sirius, and Charlotte Lily, respectively and Lorcan and Lysander Scamander are no longer twins. Also, though, it goes without saying, this universe is completely separate from the one all of my other stories are set.

And now, I'll let you get on reading.

~Rosy

** Prologue**

"The only thing worse than a boy who hates you: a boy that loves you." ― Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

It was a wet and gray afternoon in March when Simon Potter realized that Hillary Wood was beyond a doubt the most gorgeous creature he had ever seen. Unfortunately for him, however, he was a fourteen-year-old boy and he lacked tact.

Hillary Carmichael Wood had never liked Simon Potter. Maybe it had started when they were both four and playing together because their families were friends and Simon had pushed her head first into the mud. Or maybe it had started when they were five and he smashed her favorite doll. Or maybe it had started when they were six and Simon tried to convince her she was adopted. Or maybe it had started when they were seven and he'd pushed her beloved little sister down a (short) flight of stairs and blamed it on her. Or maybe it had started when they were eight and Simon seemed to delight in pulling her hair constantly. Or maybe when they were nine and he'd ripped the pages out of her favorite book. Or maybe when they were eleven and Simon told her that Ravenclaws weren't allowed to leave Ravenclaw tower because they might bore everyone else to death. Or maybe when they were twelve and he informed her smilingly that he had just confirmed that she was the ugliest girl he'd ever seen. Or maybe when they were thirteen and Simon's new favorite activity seemed to be tripping her. Or even quite possibly three weeks ago when Simon threw grass at her while she tried to study by the lake until she finally gave up and went inside. Needless to say, Hillary had countless reasons to detest Simon.

_Tuesday, March 3__rd__, 2020_

The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws had just finished a joint Herbology lesson when unexpectedly a downpour began. Racing and laughing, Simon, Louis, and Fred made it to the Great Hall before the majority of their classmates. Their classmates filed in afterwards, in increasing amounts of drenched and cold.

Hillary, Delilah, and Tess were not quite so lucky. Hillary had forgotten her coral and pearl bracelet, which her father had given her, and Delilah and Tess had gone back with her to get it. As a result, when the three girls finally made it back to the castle for lunch, Delilah's shirt was soaked, Tess's shoes were squeaking and Hillary's dark hair was plastered to her face. The three witches cast "exaresco!" on one another but the Drying Charm did not stop the mascara from leaking down Hillary's face or return her dark hair to its former state.

"Look at Carmichael," Fred snickered to his cousins. One can excuse him for his mocking because Hillary was always impeccably dressed. Never a hair out of place, skirt not a millimeter above regulation length, shirt buttoned up all the way, collar never untucked, nails always trim and clean, shoelaces never untied. To see her now, even dry, was like seeing a different Hillary. Simon turned and. Just. Like. That. It hit him that Hillary was no longer the little girl he liked to lock in the closet or push into the pond. She had grown up (and out in certain pleasing places). Louis nudged him. "Bet she doesn't like being seen like that." He said, smirking.

Simon finally recovered enough to speak: "um, yeah", though not coherently. When coherence did return to him, he yelled across the Hall. "Hey, Carmichael!"

Hillary turned around at the sound of his voice. By now she knew it was best to just let Potter annoy her, and then try not to react to him. Ignoring him just seemed to make things worse. She rolled her eyes and subconsciously her hand went to the wand in her pocket. "What?" She demanded.

"Go out with me?" Simon's hand went to his hair before he could even think, messing it up like his grandfather before him.

"Oh haha, Potter. Very funny." Hillary retorted and following Tess and Delilah, she made her way to the Ravenclaw table.

Louis and Fred looked at him strangely. "That wasn't a particularly funny one." Fred said, speaking for both of them.

"In fact, it wasn't funny at all." Louis added.

"That's because it wasn't supposed to be." Simon grumbled. "Why would she assume I was joking?"

"Hmm," Fred said. "Maybe because two years ago you told her she was the ugliest girl you've ever met?"

"Or," Louis said laughing. "It could be because you told her last week that a hag would be pleased to meet her because there was finally someone uglier than it."

"Or," Said their younger cousin Rose from further down the table where she was sitting with Simon's brother Caleb and their cousin Dominique. "It might be because yesterday, you asked her why she bothered leaving her room with a face like that."

Fred and Louis roared with laughter at this. Simon frowned. "I said that?" He asked incredulously.

"Yes." Fred, Louis, Rose, Caleb, and Dominique all said, talking over each other.

"Is it really all that crazy to think I fancy Carmichael?" Simon said.

A second chorus of yeses greeted this question too.

A slightly different conversation was taking place at the Ravenclaw table. Hillary, Tess, and Delilah settled themselves at the table, sliding in in-between Mei Wong, their fourth roommate, and Hunter Goldstein, an agreeable boy that the three were all friendly but not close with. Hillary pulled the platter of sandwiches towards her and took a ham, Swiss, and tomato one. Tess served herself fruit and cheese while Delilah followed Hillary's example and took a salami and provolone sandwich.

"Hil, what was that about?" Asked Delilah around bites of her sandwich.

"What was what about?" Hillary retorted as she set her sandwich down and reached for the pitcher of pumpkin juice. She was not being obtuse; she was not even being deliberately obtuse. Though she very much disliked Potter, he very rarely crossed her mind unless she was worrying about what he might do next or fuming about what he had just done. Since the situation fit neither, she was wondering when she might get a chance to continue reading her book.

"Hil! Come on!" Delilah was boy-crazy and found it difficult to fathom that anyone else was not.

"Yes, do tell. Hil." Tessa begged, interested, despite not being boy-crazy like Delilah.

"Tell what?" Hillary asked again, still unsure of the topic at hand.

"Potter!" Delilah said, exasperated.

"What about him?" Hillary persisted, wondering if she would have time to go back to the dorm and retrieve her book before History of Magic.

Tess rolled her eyes, Delilah groaned, and Mei hid a smile.

"He asked you out!"

"Hmm." Said Hillary, still trying to plan the logistics of getting her book. "Yes. I guess he did." She says after concluding that if she rushed after lunch, she could make it.

"Does this mean he likes you now?" Tess asked.

"Don't be silly." Delilah said, suddenly an expert. "He's always liked her, he just didn't know it before."

Hillary ignored them both because they were being silly.

"Why did you say no, Hil?" Asked Delilah.

Hillary screwed up her face. "Because it's _Potter_." She said. "Besides, you can't possibly be serious in thinking he meant it. He meant it for a joke."

"Well, it wasn't very funny." Said Tessa, echoing Fred's earlier words.

"It wasn't meant to be a joke." Muttered Delilah, who remained confident in her assertion.

"Well, Potter's jokes generally aren't." Answered Hillary and pulled her Charms textbook out of her bag and commenced reading it.

This signaled that the conversation was over and her two friends wisely did not pursue the subject.

However, the matter was most certainly _not_ over.

* * *

Reviews are most welcome!

~Rosy


End file.
